Protect Your Smile with a Customized Mouth Guard

A mouth guard is an easy way to protect the health and integrity of your teeth. Dr. Chris Reger offers customized night guards and sports guards for his patients who habitually grind their teeth or play sports. Custom mouth guards are more effective and comfortable than over-the-counter varieties. To learn more about receiving your customized mouth guard, schedule an appointment at our San Antonio practice.

Sports Guards

Participants in contact sports should always wear a sports guard. Athletes in certain non-contact sports, such as gymnastics and skateboarding, should also consider using a sports guard. Teeth sometimes serve as your body’s shock absorbers: in the event of an injury, your teeth may absorb a blow that would otherwise damage other parts of your head. Think of a sports guard as an additional shock absorber. The soft plastic diffuses pressure and absorbs at least some of the force of impact.

Sports guards typically cover your top teeth, although Dr. Reger may recommend a full-mouth sports guard in some cases. If you sustain a blow to the mouth, the appliance will reduce the potential for injury to your teeth, gums, and tongue. Sports guards can protect braces, dentures, and other dental prosthetics, as well. 

Since the cost of any reconstructive procedure far exceeds the cost of a sports guard, investing in a custom dental appliance is a wise decision. Dr. Reger can even fabricate your sports guard to match your team colors.

Night Guards

Do you grind your teeth in your sleep? Often, a spouse, parent, or roommate is the first to alert a patient that he or she has a teeth grinding habit. While a sports guard protects your teeth against a traumatic force, a night guard prevents damage from a slow, grinding motion.

Over time, teeth grinding, or bruxism, can wear down the enamel on teeth, leaving them more sensitive to pressure and temperature changes. Teeth grinding may also result in tiny fractures. Constant wear of teeth may cause or exacerbate temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, headaches, and jaw pain. Extreme cases of bruxism may lead to tooth chipping or breaking.

A night guard protects teeth from the forces of grinding while the patient sleeps. Preventing bruxism will reduce risk of tooth wear and breakage. Like sports guards, plastic, customized night guards are a very easy and cost-effective way to protect your teeth.

Customizing Your Appliance

Children in particular tend to avoid wearing a boil-and-bite mouth guard because it can be bulky and uncomfortable. A custom guard, in contrast, fits comfortably and snugly. To make the appliance, Dr. Reger will take an impression of your teeth. He will then create a dental guard using the model. The result is a comfortable, well-fitting mouth guard. Once you try on your customized appliance, Dr. Reger will make any necessary adjustments before you leave the office.

Schedule an Appointment

In many cases, a dental guard is one of the most important elements of preventive dental care. Contact Dr. Reger to schedule an appointment for your personalized night or sports guard.